A new, random blog post, my first in ages, and I don't know where it came from but here it goes...My favourite songs, in my own collection, that crack the magical ten minutes in duration.10. Cowgirl in the Sand - Neil Young (10:03) width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-6ibl6PIKPM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>Down by the River? Yeah, almost. Had I chose it I could have posted this amazing video of CSNY playing it by a pool in Big Sur. It was a close call. Both appear on Neil's first really great album - Everybody Knows This is Nowhere. And to my mind "Cowgirl" is the stronger song. I love the uplifting jolt into the chorus. I love the "old enough now" bit and the scatter-gun, gritty guitar solos. And the lyrics are so rich and evocative. "Hello Ruby in the dust", "Purple words on a grey background". What does it even mean? Who cares. Neil was running a fever when he wrote it. I dig that. The song stretches out to over 16 minutes in the "Live at the Fillmore East" recording, but only 3:59 in acoustic mode for the Four Way Street live record with CSNY. Neil does what he wants, dig it?09. Pass the hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind - Yo La Tengo (10:47) width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4G9NZvebscw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>You can't not put Yo La Tengo in a list like this. No one can stretch out like New Jersey's finest. And you have to take your hat off to a band that spits out something this heavy, funky, nasty and noisy... and has the guts to put it as the opening cut on their record. In your face!08. Bros - Panda Bear (12:30) width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jwwlCSHo50o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>If I ever get the urge to take acid and you are hanging out with me, holding my hand, waiting for the dragons to appear, please don't play this song. I reckon my brain might do a kick-flip in my skull, shoot out my ears and go dancing down the street to escape. It's just tooooo much. Don't show me this video either. It's too intense. I can hear someone crying in it.07. Sister Ray - The Velvet Underground (17:27) width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gDtqbS7DK2s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>I'm going to let this guy do all the talking: "This is rock'n'roll, I don't know anything else. Get a turntable, get the vinyl, get some JBL's, get a rotten sofa, some bottles of red wine, one of whiskey, long cold whiskey, maybe some amphetamines, a dark room except for the fucking red light, I﻿ mean: fuck. I'll have all of this RIGHT NOW." - MrHitmewithaflower (Youtube) 06. Spaceship Landing - Kyuss (34:04) width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WzBtWSouaZ8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>You know how everyone these days uses the word "epic"? Well, they are fakers. There is only one thing in the world that is truly, honestly EPIC - the first 30 seconds of this song. And, no, this isn't cheating by including it in this list. Yes, there is a giant slab of silence in this track, but it easily cracks the ten minute mark before hitting it.05. Diamond Sea - Sonic Youth (19:35) width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/p3i8MSfRq_E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>Yeah, so the extended version drags on a bit. But it is the standout track on Washing Machine and the band stretch out into some wonderful, lovely, dark, gentle, playful places. Watching them perform an even longer version of this at the Summersault Festival in 1995 turned me back onto the band and led me deeper into their back catalog. All my friends hated it.04. Indian Love Song - Dirty Three (10:12) width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FMLQfJHJomE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>There were too many extended jams from the Dirty Three to choose from. Ocean Songs (my favorite of their records) has a couple of classics that flicker past ten minutes. Nothing compares to this. It is just so iconic, so brutally honest. It has a compelling, ragged intensity that sustains across it's entire[...]

It has taken me until the first day of January 2011 to finally get around to posting this list. Most people had theirs published by the first week of December. But a lot can change in a month, and it felt only fair to allow these albums time to order themselves properly in my head (and to a certain extent, on my last.fm profile). So, here it is, my favourite albums released in 2010... with videos for the top ten!** Update - realised that the Girls album came out in '09. Added Surf City from NZ **1. Avi Buffalo - Avi BuffaloWhen I first heard this record I realised there was no way another record could eclipse it in 2010. And it contained my fave song of the year too, check it out below and find out more about Avi Buffalo on their subpop page.2. Tallest man on Earth – The Wild Hunt3. Wild Nothing – Gemini4. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest5. Damien Jurado – Saint Bartlett6. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs7. Sally Seltmann – Heart That’s Pounding 8. Local Natives - Gorilla Manor9. The Ancients – The Ancients 210. Tame Impala - Innerspeaker11. Sun Kil Moon – Admiral Fel Promises12. The Morning Benders - Big Echo13. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffitti – Before Today14. Surfer Blood – Astro Coast15. The Black Keys – Brothers16. Lower Dens - Twin Hand Movement17. Magic Kids - Memphis18. Woods - At Echo Lake19. Parades - Foreign Tapes20. Surf City - KudosFor a glimpse at what others are putting into their lists check out this aggregated top 20 from the NME.
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I'm driving to Wagga Wagga, in regional NSW, on Friday with the wife and my parents. Well, my dad will drive and we'll enjoy the ride. It takes six hours. It's not the most enjoyable journey. You need distractions, and good driving tunes. Which is usually what I take care of. So tonight I'm pulling together some CDs for the trip.

It's hard to pick stuff that isn't obvious, already overplayed or polarizing. The Beatles, Traveling Wilburys, Neil Young and Crowded House usually get a heavy work out. But I like to sometimes slip in something the folks have never heard, something treasured by me, new to them.

If there was one band I think my parents should and could love as much as me is WILCO. So I've pulled together a playlist for an 80 minute CD we can listen to in the car, a bit of a "best of Wilco" ...but with my baby boomer parents in mind. Its an almost equal mix from all their records (with the exception of AM, which I don't own). See what you think, comments welcome...

Can't Stand itYou and IWar on WarSky Blue SkyHell is ChromeOuttaside (Outta Mind)She's a JarI'll FightKameraImpossible GermanyHummingbirdFar, Far AwayA Shot In The ArmOne WingJesus, etcTheologiansRed-Eyed and BlueHow To Fight LonelinessOn and On and OnSunken Treasure

Wrapped up my last of three Kinky Afro shows tonight... the list of songs I played is below. Woody (ex-Wig Wam Bam) fills on the program from next week. Tune in for real. Big thanks to everyone who called and subscribed during radiothon last week. It went smashingly well! You can still subscribe to Triple R until September 22 to be in the running for the prizes on offer. How good is that!

(image) I filled in for Karen Leng last night on Triple R's Kinky Afro program. Below is the playlist for anyone playing at home. Be aware too that the Radiothon is on at the moment, its the perfect time to show your support for the station and the good work it does across the year. Plus you can win prizes too. Yay! Join me from 4pm next week for a radiothon special of Kinky Afro... meanwhile, the playlist:

I've been telling everyone I know and no-one who really cares how much I am in love with this amazing song by Avi Buffalo. I can't help it. It disarms me. It jangles and croons and pops its way into my heart, into a new pocket of my brain everytime. I therefor present two versions... the full band, as-heard-on-record one, with sweet film-clip... and the bedroom solo version... "What's In If For" by AVI BUFFALO from the self titled album of this year.

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FYI according to Sub Pop, their label... "Avi Buffalo is the adopted name of Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg, an 18 year-old singer/songwriter and guitarist from Long Beach, California. Avi Buffalo is also the name of the band he formed…"

I presented the Kinky Afro program on Triple R again tonight. And my special guests were Bob Nastanovich and Mark Ibold from the newly reformed PAVEMENT. As is not immediately evident from the photo above I was FRICKING NERVOUS and excited to be interviewing them. I even got all indie-fanboy and not only got a photo but had them sign by Dancing With The Elders and Father To A Sister of Thought 7" singles. I will try to attach the interview soon, but for now here is the tracklist from the program:

You'll notice that I played a bunch of tracks from SPARKLEHORSE. In case you were not aware Mark Linkous, the 47 year old singer-songwriter behind the name, died on March 6th. He committed suicide, and had been battling depression for many years. It's incredibly sad news. Robin Hilton pays tribute here on the All Songs Considered blog.

Tune into Triple R tonight, Thursday 4th March, from 7pm AEDT for a special one hour program celebrating the music of American indie pioneers PAVEMENT. The best band ever invented. Hugely influential, mythically slack, sadly defunct until right this very second.

This special Max Headroom will feature key tunes from their early EPs like Slay Tracks and Perfect Sound Forever... the breakthrough albums Slanted and Enchanted and Crooked Rain Crooked Rain... dipping into the fan favourite Wowee Zowee... and finally their critically acclaimed Brighten the Corners and the swan-song Terror Twilight. Plus a smattering of rarities, live cuts and essential non-album tracks from their 10 years together, 1989-1999. Somehow we'll fit it all into an hour radio show!

Rediscover the brilliance of Pavement on the night of their first Australian show in Sydney, and the beginning of their world tour. Pavement also play Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and best of all Golden Plains this coming weekend.

(image) I should have posted this last week (well, i did but on Twitter, not here). It seems that my favourite band ever - PAVEMENT - is reforming for a world-wide tour in 2010. Their tour begins on September 21st, the first of four shows at Rumsey Playfield in New York's Central Park. On how the reunion came about Spiral Stairs (aka Scott Kannberg) told Prefix Mag:

"Steve and I just had a conversation on the phone, and we'd never talked about it before at all,” he said. “We've talked over the years, but the subject never came up. Then our agent asked us about these New York shows, so we went around to everybody in the band, and they said, 'Yeah, the time is right. If everybody's ready to do it, then we'll do it and see what happens'. There was no real impetus – it just kind of happened naturally."

(image) I'm presenting Kinky Afro on Triple R this week, playing a range of new music - new Wilco, Black Cab, Lightening Dust, Crocodiles, Yo La Tengo, Dick Diver, Cass McCombs, Mount Eerie and more... plus an interview with Handsome Furs from Montreal. They're a duo, a husband and wife combo - Alexei Perry and Dan Boeckner (pictured above). Here's an online interview in The Vine with Dan, a great review of their live show in Berlin and a live performance below:

Tonight-ah! SO EXCITED. The last time the great French band PHOENIX were in town they played with Jarvis Cocker at the Forum on the night before our early morning flight to the UK so we missed them (we being me and the squeeze). Boo! Now, at last, and with a great new album in tow they arrive in town for two sold out shows at The Palace... the first in less than 2 hours time. Did i mention i'm excited?

(image) I'm filling in for the usual Breakfasters with Jacinta Parsons on Triple R 102.7FM this coming Monday June 8th from 0600-0900 Melbourne time. That's from 9pm Sunday night in London or 4pm Sunday afternoon in NYC streaming at http://www.rrr.org.au

In start contrast to my week's obsession with David Crosby (see previous post) is the weird buzzy hot-flush I'm getting from Major Lazer. Its the latest project for Diplo and features a cast of famous and soon-to-be-famous ringins. Major Lazer's new album "Gunz Don't Kill People Lazers Do" is released on June 16 and you can hear the tunes on myspace or check the 'off the tap' video below.

I think i'm getting a little obsessed by David Crosby. Yep, that's him above. He was in CSNY and The Byrds. He was also on the TV show Roseanne. You knew that. Anyway, I've spent the week listening to his debut solo album from '71 which is called "If I Could Only Remember My Name". Its smooth, and hippy, and groovy, and spiritual and 'far out'. A bunch of famous people play on it and its worth owning. iTunes have it for under ten bucks. Its left me back to one of the best concert albums of all time, Crosby Stills Nash and Young's "4 Way Street". Two of the key highlights of the acoustic set is Crosby's tunes Triad (my favourite never-released Byrds song) and the haunting Lee Shore. So amazing. I have no idea what David Crosby is up to now, although i vaguely remember hearing about a recent CSNY concert film... anyone seen it?

(image) Former Wilco member Jay Bennett (above, second from right) died in his sleep overnight at the age of 45. Details are trickling in slowly but Pitchfork have more. Jay was with the band from 1994 to 2001 as a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, and was fired after a falling out during the making of their Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album. According to reports earlier this month Bennett had been suing Wilco for money owed from his work with the band. He also released several of his own albums after leaving Wilco. His Jay Bennett myspace page mentions his recent hip replacement and has links to his recently released album, but of course no mention yet of his death. RIP Jay.

In Jay's honour I've been listening to Summerteeth as I write this, which I reckon is the high-water mark of Wilco's Jay-era records. But I started the day listening to the new Wilco album. Yes I know, its not out until late June or early July, but I know people, OK!? I have contacts in the right places... ahem... Anyway, its called, somewhat cheekily Wilco (The Album) and the opening cut is "Wilco (The Song)". Jeff even sings the word "Wilco" in the chorus... weird. The rest of the tracks, on first listen, don't quite stack up against the set on Sky Blue Sky which has quickly become one of my favourite Wilco records. A lot of people just didn't dig it, but songs like "Impossible Germany" and "On and On and On" are as good as anything else they've ever done. So anyway, the new album doesn't quite soar as high, but is still a well crafted collection of intelligent adult-pop tunes.

I've also got my winter mittens on Ashes of American Flags, their new tour/live movie. Check the trailer:

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And guess what!? You can also get a Wilco iPhone app! I'm going to download it now...

(image) I'm spending my Sunday with the incredible new double album from Melbourne indie quartet Mum Smokes. Easy/House Music is as close to perfect as anything else released this year, overflowing with brainy-pop and smooth jazzy-indie. Artist Mark Rodda also created the cover art and the band is Jonathan Michell from The Ancients, Karl Scullin of KES, Julian Patterson of Minimum Chips and Justin Fuller of ZOND are Mum Smokes and they launch their double CD in Melbourne on June 26 at The John Curtin Bandroom in Carlton with supports Fabulous Diamonds & White Woods. More dates and tunes on their myspace page and they release through Sensory Projects. Check out their video below which was also created by Mark Rodda.

NPR are streaming tracks from the awesome"Dark Night of the Soul" collaboration between Sparklehorse and Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley and creator of the Grey Album). You can listen to the collaborations with Iggy Pop, Jason Lytle, James Mercer and DAVID LYNCH!!!! from NPR 'Exclusive First Listen'. The Guardian, among others, reports that the album was leaked to file sharing websites and has since been held up by Danger Mouse's label EMI so he plans to sell an accompanying book with a blank CD-R (so you can download illegally and burn to a physical format i presume)...

Unable to purchase the music, fans are encouraged to buy the project's accompanying book, with photographs by filmmaker David Lynch, which comes with a blank recordable CD-R. "All [CD-Rs] will be clearly labelled: 'For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music.Link

(image) Fans of classic mellow Texan band American Analog Set can rejoice with a new project from lead chap Andrew Kenny. The Wooden Birds picks up where the sadly departed 'amanset' left off - familiar understated, slow-moving indie-pop for the lost in love - but with fresh new-folk muscle under AK's gentle boyish croon. I'm loving their album Magnolia and its really worth owning. Like really worth it. Listen on myspace or buy it straight from their label Barsuk.

Oh, and thanks to Leigh Tran for the tipoff. She knows I'm an American Analog Set tragic. And her radio program Tape Relay on 2SER in Sydney is amazing.

(image) It is no secret Grizzly Bear have a new album. But following up a slow burning treasure like Yellow House was always going to be a difficult task. Have the Brooklyn outfit succeeded? So far I'm not sure, but my guts say... maybe not. After 2-3 listens I am in love with its warm romantic swooning and chiming energy. It is just as mystical and evocative. I can't get beneath the lyrics yet, but then they usually sink in late for me anyway. And 'Tha Grizzlz' are about texture and tone, aren't they?

But the new album "Veckatimest" doesn't soar, on initial listens, quite as high... or beat with the same vigor as Yellow House. I'm hoping (and I'm sure) it will dig in under my skin soon and I can then stop being so passive aggressive. Its certainly one of the better releases of 2009 so far. Inertia are carrying "Veckatimest" (on Warp Records) in Australia. It is named after an island and comes out on the 23rd of May. Tunes and dates on Grizzly Bear's myspace page, and below is a performance of new track Two Weeks from the BBC's Later... with Jools Holland.

I saw this band, Dick Diver, play a few weeks ago at the Curtin Bandroom in Carlton. The bassplayer danced around and wore a wifebeater and a cowboy hat. Steph, who shares Home and Hosed presenting duties on Triple J is their drummer. She used to drum for Screamfeeder and Children Collide. The two young dudes out front share vocals and trade slippery guitar lines. They are pretty much fantastic.

They describe their sound as Tropical German-Pop Soul. Are they being funny for their myspace page? No. Its true. I can imagine them playing behind the wall, with nice trousers and boatshoes, near a wading pool, with an ice-cream van nearby, and sunscreen on, in 1965, supporting The Beatles but kicking their ass. To be fair they actually owe a debt to The Go-Betweens from Brisbane and their peers more than anything. There's also little bits of Pavement and Crow in the mix too.

They are finishing a recording so the best I can offer you to hear is the ace music on Dick Diver's myspace and try to see them when they play with The Middle East and Grand Salvo at the Northcote Social Club on June 13th.

(image) I'm going to Sydney next week for work, and then a weekend of play. One of the things we're doing is heading to the bi-annual Finders Keepers Market which is on Friday May 15th and Saturday May 16th at the Carriage Works. Playing on Saturday at around 6pm is a duo called High Highs. I've fallen for the gentle, otherworldly acoustic folk/pop tunes on their myspace page. They even try their hand at a cover of Dan Auerbach's "Trouble Weighs a Ton". There's no official release or label or any more details but the full list of artists appearing at the markets is here.

(image) Engadget posted these photos above of the custom guitars available for The Beatles: Rock Band game which is coming out this year. At a retail price of US$99 the Gretsch above is only $10 cheaper than the equivalent REAL guitar purchased by George Harrison in 1961. Which would you prefer? I had been thinking of getting a REAL Gretsch (yes, i can actually PLAY) but am having second thoughts now that it is associated with a GAME. Am i over-reacting, being over sensitive? Hmm.